The Story Between the Pages: Discovering William and Cicely Gee in a Victorian Book
Three historic children's photographs and separate Sunrise at Crowland colour plate found inside a V 
Victorian Illustrated Natural History Mammalia by J G Wood in ornate green pictorial cloth 
William Victor Gee and Cicely Mary Gee as children standing with a horse outside a farmhouse in Thor
Some of the most remarkable discoveries are not the ones we set out to find. Sometimes, they are quietly waiting for us between the pages of a book.
This is the story between the pages of an antiquarian book, where a chance discovery led me to two children, their family, and a small glimpse into life in the Fenlands more than a century ago
As an antiquarian bookseller, I spend my days surrounded by books that have passed through many hands. Each has its own history, its own marks of ownership, and its own place in the world. Every so often, however, a book reveals something unexpected. Something that makes me pause, look a little closer, and wonder about the people who came before us.
This is the story of one such discovery: a beautiful Victorian natural history book, three old photographs, a handwritten inscription that took time to decipher, and the trail that led me to a family who lived in Cambridgeshire more than a century ago.
The Story Between the Pages: Discovering William and Cicely Gee
The book is The Illustrated Natural History: Mammalia by the Reverend J. G. Wood, with designs by artists including Joseph Wolf, E. Zwecker and Harrison Weir, engraved by the Brothers Dalziel.
Published in the late nineteenth century, this substantial volume was created to bring the wonders of the animal kingdom to Victorian readers. Its detailed engravings and elaborate green cloth binding, decorated with animals and birds, make it a lovely example of illustrated natural history publishing.
Yet it was not the illustrations that first drew me into a different story. It was what I discovered inside.
Tucked between the pages were three old black-and-white photographs. They had clearly survived a considerable passage of time, and I found myself wondering how long they had been there, who had placed them inside the book, and whether they had been kept together deliberately.
How many times have we come across an old photograph and wondered who the people were? What were their lives like? What did they do, what did they care about, and what became of them?
I could not simply put these photographs aside without trying to find out.
The Photograph of Two Children and a Horse
Of the three photographs, one particularly captured my attention. It shows a young girl and boy standing outdoors, holding the reins of a magnificent, heavily built horse. Behind them stands a substantial house or farmhouse.
The children are smartly dressed, and there is something wonderfully ordinary about the scene. They are not posing in a grand studio or being presented for a formal portrait. Instead, we glimpse them in what appears to be a moment of everyday life.
Who were they? Was this their home? Was the horse part of their family's life and work? And who had thought to preserve this particular photograph?
The writing on the reverse offered a possible way forward, although it was far from easy to read.
Deciphering the Handwriting: A Name from the Past
The inscription was difficult to decipher. The handwriting was not easy to read, and I spent considerable time examining the letters, considering their possible meanings and trying to establish the names written there.
Eventually, I identified the names as William Victor Gee and Cicely Mary Gee.
Having names gave me something concrete to work with. Rather than wondering about two unidentified children, I could begin searching historical records and see whether the names led anywhere.
They did.
Discovering William and Cicely Gee in the 1911 Census
My research led me to the 1911 census, where I found William Victor Gee and Cicely Mary Gee recorded as members of the same family living at Wrydelands, Thorney, Cambridgeshire.
William was nine years old and Cicely was five. Both were recorded as having been born in Thorney.
Their parents were Thomas Gee, aged 52, and Emily Kate Gee, aged 44. Thomas's occupation was recorded as farmer and Shire horse breeder. The household also included two domestic servants.
I found this particularly fascinating. The photograph showed the children holding the reins of a large horse, and their father's occupation connected the family directly to Shire horse breeding.
It was a detail I could not have known simply by looking at the photograph. A few lines in a census had given the image an entirely new context.
The horse can not be identified with certainty from the photograph, but the connection between the family and the animal in the picture is compelling.
Was This Wrydelands Farmhouse?
The census gave me another clue: the family's recorded residence.
Wrydelands Farmhouse still exists, and when I looked into it, the property appeared consistent with the farmhouse in the photograph.
Could this be where the children were photographed? It is certainly a possibility. The family lived at Wrydelands, the setting appears similar, and their father's work as a Shire horse breeder fits the scene.
I cannot conclusively establish that the photograph was taken at Wrydelands, so I would not want to present that as a proven fact. But the names, census records, apparent resemblance of the property and the family's connection to horses all point in an intriguing direction.
Based on the children's ages and their appearance, I believe the photograph may date from around 1907–1911, although this too remains an estimate.
What began as a faded photograph with difficult handwriting had become a small piece of historical detective work.
Another Clue: Sunrise at Crowland
The photographs were not the only unexpected material found inside the book.
I also discovered a separate colour illustrated plate titled Sunrise at Crowland, bearing the imprint “F. Dangerfield, Lith. London”.
My research indicated that this plate relates to The Fenland Past and Present by Samuel H. Miller and Sydney B. J. Skertchly, rather than to J. G. Wood's natural history volume.
Crowland lies approximately five miles from Thorney.
Was this simply a coincidence? It may well have been. I have found no evidence establishing why the plate and photographs were inside this particular book, or whether they were ever connected to one another.
Nevertheless, the geographical proximity added another interesting thread to the story. These were not just names on paper. They pointed towards real places, a family and a landscape that can still be explored today.
Why Were the Photographs Kept Inside the Book?
This is the question I keep returning to.
The photographs were found laid inside a book about the natural world. We do not know who placed them there, how long they had been kept together, or whether the Gee family ever owned the book.
Perhaps someone used the volume as a safe place to preserve treasured photographs. Perhaps they were placed there temporarily and simply remained between the pages. We may never know.
But I find myself wondering whether the photographs were tucked away for a reason, and whether they held a personal significance for someone who knew the children.
There is something quietly moving about holding a photograph of people who lived so long ago. We know their names, their approximate ages and where their family lived. We have a glimpse of their world, but not the whole of it.
We cannot know what William and Cicely were thinking as they stood beside that horse. We cannot know who took the photograph or what happened immediately afterwards. Yet, for a brief moment, the distance between their time and ours seems a little smaller.
The Stories Within the Stories
This discovery has reminded me why I love antiquarian bookselling.
A book is never simply paper, ink and binding. It can carry traces of the people who read it, the places it travelled, and the lives it quietly accompanied. An inscription, a pressed flower, a letter or an old photograph can open a door to a story that might otherwise have remained undiscovered.
The photographs found inside The Illustrated Natural History: Mammalia have given me a reason to look beyond the printed text and explore the lives of William and Cicely Gee. The census records, their father's occupation and the possible connection to Wrydelands have helped me piece together a little of their world.
I may never discover the complete story, and perhaps that is part of the charm. Not every question needs a definitive answer for a discovery to be meaningful.
For me, these photographs are a reminder that history is not made up only of famous people and significant events. It is also made up of ordinary moments, family lives and people whose names might otherwise have been forgotten.
And sometimes, those moments survive in the most unexpected places.
Discover This Book at Literary Treasures
The book, together with the three historic photographs and the separate Sunrise at Crowland plate found inside it, is available from Literary Treasures.
The photographs and their accompanying research are being offered with the book, allowing the next custodian to preserve this unusual combination of Victorian natural history and intriguing historical material.
You can explore the book and see the photographs here:
At Literary Treasures, I believe every book deserves to be appreciated for what it is, but sometimes it is the unexpected story hidden within that makes it truly special.
Timeless Books. Enduring Stories. Cherished Treasures.
Marie
Literary Treasures
Comments